Bulgaria’s capital city of Sofia will have a record-high budget of almost a billion and a half levs in 2014. With about half of the sum Sofia will see a real resetting – the money will go to infrastructure and important ecological and social projects.
Deputy Mayor for Finance, Dancho Barbalov said that at the end of the year his main achievement will be that this year there will be no single main achievement. „If in 2012 every second lev of the expenses of the municipality went to the construction of the subway, then this year only every seventh lev will be spent on the underground,“ he added. Besides the two new lines – to the airport and to the Business Park in Mladost – probably a new station on the Boulevard James Bourchier will be built. According to estimates, the metro will swallow about 110 million levs out of the total of 712.6 million levs of the investment policy. Roads, environment, schools, kindergartens, and the first stage of construction of the plant for garbage procession will swallow the rest. It is interesting to note the good planning of the European grants. For example, the construction of new underground will cost the municipality only 13.6 million levs, and of the total investment cost of the other projects in Sofia EU will provide 470 million levs under operational programmes, deputy mayor said.
Citizens and guests of Sofia will enjoy more modern trolleys and trams. Days ago Sofia got 20 new trams. Trams running on lines 1 and 7 are manufactured in Poland and purchased by the Municipality through European funds.
To finance its part in the projects the municipality will rely mostly on income from municipal taxes, but also on privatization. The biggest property Sofia is ready to say goodbye to is the Municipal Bank.
Sofia has its elegant but fir procedure for collecting overdue payments and old debts. The results are good because in 2012 it collected 70.7 million levs in arrears, and in 2013 the sum was 77.4 million levs while the expectations for 2014 are also for similar amounts to be collected.
A significant part of the revenues come from taxes on vehicles. It is not yet clear how it will affect the people of the capital, but the change of tax rates on cars entered into force on 1 January. They provide 60% discount on the charge for cars with a certificate of engines Euro 5 and Euro 6 (below 10% of the total) and 50% for those with Euro 3 and 4.
Mr. Balbalov did not provide information on how many cars are there in Sofia. This can hardly be calculated, because migration is high. Over 40,000 cars with plate registration throughout the country pay taxes to Sofia, because there they have their tax registration. How do cars to the readers pay taxes in other areas of the country is not clear.
The draft budget will be presented on January 23 in the City Council, which will have 15 working days to discuss and adopt it.
The BANKER
